stay connected... over the holidays. Sally’s 93-year-old father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and now resides in a Hanover, N.H., nursing home. Unfortunately, the family’s 13-year-old Keeshond, Toby, passed away this past fall. Sally and Rich have placed a deposit on a Keeshond puppy that will be home and much loved by the time you read this.
PHILLIPS Frank duPont 8 Nichols Drive Hastings-on-Hudson NY 10706 914-478-7818 dupont@wdfilms.com
The news this mid-winter week has been saturated with classmates Bill Belichick and Jeb Bush. Deflate-gate has been marginalized by the Super Bowl, which is literally unfolding at this moment. Jeb has been “actively exploring” a run for president and is now among a crowd of Republican contenders competing for Romney’s big donors. This is the sixth appearance of the Patriots in the Super Bowl since Belichick—supported by collaborator and director of player research Ernie Adams—took over in 2000. Beyond the play-by-play, we’d love to know the strategic interplay between this duo at game time. What is Ernie, the “black ops” specialist for the team, doing at this moment? Is he in headset communication with Bill? Designing the ideal receiver-ineligible play? Game update: Early Patriots momentum has been reversed, putting in doubt Tim Gay’s prediction that “Bill will prevail.” February also saw an article about Jeb’s years at Andover published in the Boston Globe. Watching this develop was frustrating, to say the least. As Geoff Foisie commented, “Did the story contain some recycled mistruths, exaggerations, and individual perceptions peddled as universal facts? Of course, but...journalism can...be much worse.” By the time I received the second call from the writer, the methodology was clear: Bait the interviewee into conversation by quoting over-the-top comments about dysfunction at PA, mix in references to Jeb’s allegedly less-than-stellar behavior, gauge the response...then proceed. I liked Greg Zorthian’s response to a similar line of questioning for the Vanity Fair story a few years back. When asked if it was true that Jeb was on probation for drinking, Greg responded, “I have no idea, but wasn’t everyone?” Rick Prelinger mirrored my impression and response: “The Globe guy wanted a sensational soundbite, but I couldn’t oblige.” At its conclusion, the story did capture a significant turnaround for Jeb in Tom Lyons’s Man and Society course. Charlie Keefe provided insight into this one-of-a-kind class: “An interdisciplinary course...taught for the first time our upper year by Wayne Frederick, Tom Lyons, and teaching fellow Hugh Hill. The academic
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Andover | Spring 2015
side of it was an inquiry into the distribution of power and wealth in modern society, using the American inner city and rural Mexico as case studies. But the course went beyond the classroom with the Mexico and Boston community service trips. Not unlike the Search & Rescue and Outward Bound programs of that era, M&S aimed to teach life skills—self-sufficiency, teamwork—by challenging the students to complete real-world projects in the poor communities we had been studying... . M&S was an experiment, maybe only half successful in and of itself, but...emblematic of the zeitgeist in 1970.” Like a number of guys—Heath Allen, Stewart Crone, Alec Chessman, Dick Cashin, John Gillespie, John Schmitz, Peter Halley, and others—Jeb was fortunate enough to take the course. It took him to Mexico, where, among other things, he met his future wife, Columba. Speaking of turnarounds, the Patriots just won! Grover Burthey sent a note after the game, “Ernie Adams wins another one for Bill,” then excused himself, saying, “I’m actually embalming now.” Later, Grover got back to me with news that he was headed to Detroit shortly to hang out with Deolis Allen at a weekend fraternity party. From Nebraska, Tim Gay sent more news: “My firstborn is getting married on Pi Day in March (3/14) in Fort Worth, Texas. If we time the best man’s toast to the second, we can get 10 significant figures on that sucker. Fred’s wedding has caused me to think about the cycle of life, but more often about the exorbitant cost of champagne by the case. At least if you want it to be vaguely drinkable.” Jeff Thermond reports from the Bay Area that he and his wife, Cathie, have made the empty-nest adjustment. Cathie is doing volunteer work, and Jeff is working with and investing in early stage startups. The kids “have good jobs and live on their own, but close enough to visit often.” Jeff reports seeing Luis Buhler, who has had “multiple CFO roles in startups.” When asked how his career in Silicon Valley developed, Jeff credited, “dumb luck...and a few lucky guesses,” then added, “Reading Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, I became converted to the view that computational power behind a great user interface could change and improve human decision making. I went to work for a company doing that in 1979 as a sales guy, and my career and the general computer tech field took off.” Jim Parker reports that he and his wife, Jane Yokoyama, have recently moved from Alaska, where they lived for 35 years, to Asheville, N.C. Starting off as a Vista volunteer in Anchorage, where he met Jane (Rick Prelinger was best man at their wedding), Jim moved through a series of public service and legal jobs, becoming a legal services attorney, a public defender, and head of the Alaska public guardian program. He says, “My legal career was focused on representing the interests of underserved and poor people, starting with representation of Yup’ik Eskimo and Athabascan Indian clients in the bush. I liked my clients and feel lucky
to have had those jobs. I made a living wage and had good benefits, and the jobs suited me.” Harking back to Andover in 1970–’71, Sam Walker writes, “I did not participate in the discussions on Vietnam. I went to class on the days when it was optional. Good days for interaction with [instructors], because we actually talked about what was happening. As you know, many of our professors had served, so they had their take on what was going on. Not all supportive of the war effort. I have to say I enjoyed my time at Andover. I felt very lucky to be there. I actually look at Andover as my college years. West Point was my real preparation for my eventual vocation.” And from Charlie Keefe: “So many people think that was a dark time for the school. For myself, I can’t imagine a more exciting time to have been there.” [Editor’s note: The Academy has received word that Joel Tansey passed away on Dec. 28, 2014. Please see his obituary in the In Memoriam section.]
1972 ABBOT Julia Gibert 300 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED England + 44 0 7766 022832 juliagibert@gmail.com
After a year of celebrations (and a few commiserations) when most of us, one by one, entered our seventh decades, AA ’72ers seem to have gone to ground. My usual appeal for news didn’t unearth much, but Linda Rawson (somehow) found the time to write: “I am loving working on Cavalier Rescue USA’s national website, where I do a lot of the photo editing of dogs who need homes. It is fun to ‘beautify’ dogs and help them find great new homes. It keeps my Photoshop skills top notch, too. We have a wonderful all-volunteer team from across the U.S. We rescued, fostered, and placed more than 600 Cavaliers last year, including more than 60 from a single puppy mill. “Despite my advanced age, I enjoy power weight lifting and spin classes and am in the gym 5 or 6 days a week. My big goal is to deadlift more than my weight, and I am getting close! “If there are fellow tweeters out there, contact me @Bewickwren. I mainly tweet about wildfire and other emergencies, participating in Virtual Operations Support Teams (VOSTs) for agencies needing social media help during disasters. “My husband, Charles Harrison PA ’67, just got his first patent, for an animal mask oxygen-delivery system, so we have exciting times ahead marketing the invention to vets, ranchers, etc.” And Maud Lavin is in love. Since I have some word allocation to spare, I note that I do not have valid e-mail addresses for